‘Where Is The Venkatalakshmi’ is pure entertainment: Praveen, Madhunandhan

‘Where Is The Venkatalakshmi’ is gearing up for a theatrical release soon.  Ahead of its release, comedians Praveen and Madhunandhan, who are the film’s male leads, talk about the film, what is unique about it, being comedians in Tollywood and more.  

What is the premise of the movie?

Laxmi Raai will be seen as a teacher in a village.  The character makes use of us for a good cause.  But our characters are under the wrong impression that it’s they who are making use of her.  Whatever they do (Praveen and Madhunandhan), they do together.  They are such thick friends in the movie. 

Do you guys improvize spontaneously or strictly go by the script? 

There definitely is scope for improvisation every time.  Since we both are good friends in real life, that rapport shows off in ‘Where Is’.  Although we haven’t done movies together, we have always been close off-screen.  

What is unique about the movie?

Every film needs to have entertainment quotient.  This film has an exciting climax.  The audience will engage themselves with the story as the proceedings move on.  The emotional value is strong.  The thread involving Laxmi Raai has emotions.  

This is more an entertainer, a thriller than a horror film.  There is suspense, there is comedy, there is everything.  

How was it shooting for it? Tell us about the production values.

The film was shot in locations such as Amalapuram.  The entire direction team put in a collective effort.  The credit should go to the entire team.  Every scene saw the involvement of everybody else.  The production values are another highlight.  Art director Brahma Kadali, the music director and cinematographer are highly qualitative creators.  A song was choreographed by Sekhar Master.  The producer never compromised anywhere.  The movie could have been made in 40 days.  But we took time for the sake of quality.  It’s like we fell in love with the producer.

What about the story?  Is the film story-based?

When there is a strong script, it becomes smooth.  The story writer came up with a gripping story.  The producer was confident right from the beginning.  We felt that this producer will do complete justice.  Laxmi Raai garu entered later.  It was we both who were roped in before her.  Small films take time to become popular among the audience.  Everything gets decided on the first day of release.  

How are you enjoying your time in Telugu cinema?  Who do you look up to?

Tollywood is the only industry where these many comedians are there.  This is because of the writers who write comedies.  Also, the audience patronizes comedians here more than others.  Emotion plus entertainment ensure long-standing survival.  For example, Rajendra Prasad garu and Naresh garu did that.  The likes of Ali garu too have done that.

Do you think there is an increased supply of new comedy faces in Tollywood nowadays?

These days, platforms like Dubsmash and Tik Tok are becoming talent-hunting platforms.  The competition is heavy.  The supply of new faces is more than the demand for them.  That’s why remunerations have come down.